THBS600 - Bible Lands Study Tour

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

THBS501 Biblical Studies or THBS562 Introducing the Scriptures

Teaching organisation

The course will consist of a two-week residential teaching-learning strategy in a classroom setting, with field trips and site visits prepared by relevant adobe connect sessions prior to travel. Students should anticipate undertaking 300 hours of study for this unit, including class attendance, readings, site visits and assignment preparation.

Unit rationale, description and aim

This two-week, intensive, residential program offers an opportunity to reflect on a Gospel in the land of Jesus and its people. This course is located in Jerusalem at the Centre for Biblical Formation, Ecce Homo Convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion, in the heart of the Old City. Excursions to places associated with Jesus during his ministry in Jerusalem, a prolonged visit to Galilee, and visits to other important sites (for example, Qumran, Sepphoris, Tel Dan) will complement this unique opportunity for Gospel study. The aim of the course is to engage the Gospel within the geographical and cultural context envisaged by the evangelist and to study the Gospel’s Christological portrait. 

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - explain the geographical, socio-historical and cultural roots of the Jewish and Christian traditions (GA1, GA4, GA5);

LO2 - study the Gospel within the very setting envisaged by the evangelist (GA4, GA5, GA8);

LO3 - evaluate the contribution of archaeology to an appreciation and understanding of the Bible, especially the gospels (GA5, GA9);

LO4 - understand the geographical, socio-historical and cultural roots of Judaism and Christianity (GA1, GA4, GA5, GA9);

LO5 - appreciate the different faith communities in the Middle East today, especially Judaism and Islam (GA1, GA4, GA8).

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA4 - think critically and reflectively

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include:

• Visits to sites related to the Bible, especially the Gospels, and relevant to the subsequent development of Judaism and Christianity;
• Guided study of selected passages from Mark and other texts relevant to Christianity and Judaism;
• Visits to archaeological sites  relevant to biblical study and the Gospels
• Research into the geographical, socio-historical and cultural roots of Judaism and the first generation of Jesus followers.
• Seminars related to life today in Israel from Muslim, Jewish and Christian perspectives;
• An engaged hermeneutic relevant to participants’ professional context. 
• Consideration of the religious, social and political implications of archaeological sites. 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The course will consist of a two-week residential teaching-learning strategy in a classroom setting, with field trips and site visits prepared by relevant adobe connect sessions prior to travel. Students should anticipate undertaking 300 hours of study for this unit, including class attendance, readings, site visits and assignment preparation. Emphasis will be placed on active engagement with texts, the land and archaeological sites relevant to the gospel narrative in an atmosphere of collegial encouragement. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements.

For successful completion of the course, students will be expected to undertake all assessment tasks and achieve an overall grade of Pass (50% or higher)

Task 1 enables participants to engage with one archaeological site relevant to the gospel which will be visited. It allows the student to present orally, in situ, and explore the site’s implication for gospel study.

Task 2 synthesises student learning on the gospel, demonstrate exegetical learning in understanding a gospel message and its contemporary relevance for the student’s professional life.

Task 3 offers a way for students to bring together relevant resources for ongoing gospel study and teaching.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Davis, T.W. Shifting Sands: The Rise and Fall of Biblical Archaeology. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. [electronic resource]

Dever, W.G. What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did they Know it? What Archaeology Can Tell Us about the Reality of Ancient Israel. Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2002.

Finkelstein, I. and A. Mazar. The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2007. [electronic resource]

Freyne, S. Jesus, a Jewish Galilean : A New Reading of the Jesus Story. London ; New York: T & T Clark International, 2004.

Galor, K. and Gideon Avni. Unearthing Jerusalem 150 Years of Archaeological Research in the Holy City. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2014.

Hopkins, D.C., ed. Across the Anatolian Plateau: Readings in the Archaeology of Ancient Turkey.

Boston, MA: American Schools of Oriental Research, 2002. [electronic resource]

Mazar, A., ed. Studies in the Archaeology of the Iron Age in Israel and Jordan. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001. [electronic resource]

Meyers, E.M. & J.F. Strange. Archaeology, the Rabbis, and Early Christianity. London: SCM, 1986.

Murphy-O’Connor, J. The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University, 1998.

Shanks, H. and D.P. Cole, eds. Archaeology and the Bible: The Best of BAR: Volume Two: Archaeology in the World of Herod, Jesus and Paul. Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeological Society, 1990.

Stern, E., ed. The New Encyclopaedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. 4 Volumes. New York:   Simon & Schuster, 1993.